Album A Day: Paramore – All We Know Is Falling

By the band’s own admission, Paramore’s debut album is decidedly inferior compared to the music they’ve made since. The guitars are fairly basic punk rock, the drums for the most part elementary. Hayley Williams’ voice carries the rest of the band as much as ever here, and while there’s nothing particularly wrong with that, even Williams is less than stellar. Listening to this now, it’s comforting to know that Paramore are one of the few bands to truly surpass the work done on their debut.

Which isn’t to suggest there’s nothing to like about this album. It’s a perfectly serviceable pop-punk album, released in a span of time when Fall Out Boy, et al held the world of alternative music in the palm of their hands. “Emergency” tackles weighty subjects like abuse, while songs like “Pressure” and “Whoa” are more in line with Williams’ teenage sensibilities. And across the board the album has more hooks than a butcher shop, making even the most been-there, done-that  songs here at worst tolerable. All We Know Is Falling may well be light years away from the shining brilliance of Riot!, but that shouldn’t take away from what Paramore did get right on its first time out.

Paramore – Pressure [iTunes]

==TJ==